As an Indian post of ancient date, none is more universally known than " Standing Stone," where Huntingdon now stands. The very earliest traders could never ascertain by Indian tradition how long it had been a village, but that it dated back to a very remote period may be judged from the fact that the land on the flat betweeen Stone Creek and Huntingdon was under cultivation one hundred and five years ago. It was used as one extensive cornfield, with the exception of that portion lying near the mouth of the creek, where the Indian town stood, and where also was the public ground, used on great occasions for councils or dances.

The Standing Stone that is, the original stone, was, according to John Harris, fourteen feet high and six inches square. It stood on the right bank of Stone Creek, near its mouth, and in such a position as to enable persons to see it at a considerable distance, either from up or down the river.

About the self-same Standing Stone there still exist contradictory opinions. These we have endeavored to ascertain; and, after weighing them carefully, we have come to the conclusion that no person now living ever saw part or parcel of the original stone, notwithstanding Dr. Henderson delivered what some are disposed to believe a portion of it to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

The original Standing Stone, we are induced to believe, in addition to serving a similar capacity to that of a guide-board at a cross-road, was the official record of the tribe. On it, no doubt, were engraved all the important epochs in its history, its wars, its mighty deeds, its prowess in battle, and its skill in the chase. It might, too, have served as a sacred tablet to the memory of many a noble chief who fell by the arrow of an enemy. These things were, no doubt, in cabalistic characters; and, although each inscription may have been small, its meaning may have taken in almost an unbounded scope, as Indian brevity generally does.

This stone was once the cause of a war. The Tuscaroras, residing some thirty or forty miles down the river, probably in Tuscarora Valley, wished to declare war against the tribe at Standing Stone, for some real or fancied insult, and for this purpose sent them repeated war-messages, which the tribe at the Stone refused to give ear to, knowing as they did the strength and power of the enemy. Taking advantage of the absence of a large part of the tribe on a hunt, the Tuscaroras, in great force, came upon the village, captured the stone, and carried it off. Immediately after the return of the warriors, the entire available war-force was despatched after the depredators, who were soon overtaken. A bloody conflict ensued, and the trophy was recaptured and carried back in triumph.

Dr. Barton, it is said, discovered that the word Oneida meant "Standing Stone," in the language of the Southern Indians.* The Oneida tribe of the Iroquois had a tradition that their forefathers came from the South; consequently, the tribe at Standing Stone may have been part of the Oneida tribe instead of Delawares, as was generally supposed. The Tuscaroras, according to history, came from the South and became one of the Iroquois confederation in 1712. The language of the two tribes in question, although not identical, bore a strong affinity to each other. Hence we may surmise that the characters upon the stone were understood by the Tuscaroras, and that it possessed, in their eyes sufficient value to move it some forty or fifty miles, under what we should call disadvantageous circumstances, especially when it is known that stones of a better finish could have been found anywhere along the Juniata River.

There is no doubt at all but what the original stone was removed by the Indians and taken with them in 1754 or 1755, for it is a well-ascertained fact that the Indians in the valley, with some few exceptions, (Aughwick, for instance,) joined the French in the above years.

The first survey of the land on which Huntingdon now stands was made by Mr. Lukens, in behalf of a claimant named Crawford, in 1756. It is therein named as "George Crogan's improvement." It is not improbable that Crogan may have claimed the improved fields and site of the deserted village, but that he ever made any improvement beyond probably erecting a trading-post there is a matter of some doubt. His whole history proves that he was no improving man.

On the second stone erected were found the names of John and Charles Lukens, Thomas Smith, and a number of others, with dates varying from 1768 to 1770, cut or chiselled. This stone was most unquestionably erected, by some of the men whose names it bore, on the same spot where the original stone stood, but was subsequently removed to or near where the old court-house in Huntingdon formerly stood. This position it occupied for many years, and might still stand as a monument of the past, had not some Vandal taken it into his head to destroy it. One piece of it still remains in a wall of the foundation of a house in Huntingdon.

The old Indian graveyard (and an extensive one it must have been) was on the high ground, near where the present Presbyterian church stands. To the credit of the Huntingdon folks be it said, they have never permitted a general exhumation of the bones of the Indians, to fill scientific cabinets, gratify the morbid appetites of the curious, or even to satisfy the less objectionable zeal of the antiquarian.

The few white settlers who lived at the Stone, in 1762, partially erected a stockade fort; but before the spring of 1763 they were forced to abandon it, as well as their houses, and fly to Carlisle for protection. When the settlers returned, in 1770, the fort still stood, though partially decayed. Imme diately on the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, the fort was rebuilt on a more extended scale by the few inhabitants of the town and surrounding country. It was located near where the court-house now stands, immediately on the bluff, and, according to the traces of it discovered by the present generation, must have covered ten acres of ground. It was strongly built; and, when the savages were in the midst of their depredations, it was the only reliable refuge- before the erection of the Lead Mine Fort, in Sinking Valley-for all the people residing as far west as the base of the Alleghany Mountains.

No actual attempt was ever made against Standing Stone Fort; neither were there ever any Indians seen, except on two or three occasions, very close to it. A party of lurking savages were once surprised and shot at by a number of scouts on the hill where the graveyard now stands; but they made good their escape without any injury being done.

At another time, by a display of cool courage, as well as shrewdness, that would do any general credit, the commander of the fort unquestionably saved the place from total annihilation. One morning a large body of savages appeared upon the ridge on the opposite side of the river, and, by their manoeuvring, it was clearly evident that they meditated an attack, which, under the circumstances, must have proved disastrous to the settlers, for not more than ten men able to bear arms were in the fort at the time-the majority having left on a scouting expedition. The commander, with judgment that did him infinite credit, marshalled his men, and paraded them for half an hour in such a manner as to enable the Indians to see a constant moving of the middle of the column, but neither end of it, while the drums kept up a constant clatter. In addition to this, he ordered all the women out, armed them with frying-pans, brooms, or whatever he could lay his hands upon, and marched them about the enclosure after the same manner in which he did the men. The enemy could only make out the dim outlines of the people and hear the noise. The stratagem succeeded, and, after a very short council of war, the Indians disappeared.

Among those who figured about Standing Stone, at the beginning of the Revolution, were the Bradys. Hugh Brady's name appears in some of the old title-deeds; and the father of Sam. Brady (rendered famous by R. B. McCabe, Esq.) lived at the mouth of the little run opposite Huntingdon. Within the walls of Standing Stone Fort, General Hugh Brady and a twin-sister were born. All the Bradys went to the West Branch of the Susquehanna during the Revolution. Hugh entered the army at an early age, and, step by step, rose from the ranks to the exalted position he occupied at the time of his death. A characteristic anecdote is related of him. At one time he was lying ill at Erie, and his physician told him he could not survive. " Let the drums beat," said he; " my knapsack is swung, and Hugh Brady is ready to march!" He recovered, however, and died only a few years ago, at Sunbury.

The only massacre by Indians in the immediate vicinity of Standing Stone occurred on the 19th of June, 1777, at what was then known as the "Big Spring," two miles west of the fort. In consequence of hostile bands of Indians having been seen at a number of places in the neighborhood, and the general alarm which followed, people commenced nocking to the forts from every direction. On the day above named, Felix Donnelly and his son Francis, and Bartholomew Maguire and his daughter, residing a short distance from the mouth of Shaver's Creek, placed a number of their movable effects upon horses, and, with a cow, went down the river, for the purpose of forting at Standing Stone. Jane Maguire was in advance, driving the cow, and the Donnellys and Maguire in the rear, on the horses. When nearly opposite the Big Spring, an Indian fired from ambuscade and killed young Donnelly. His father, who was close to him, caught him, for the purpose of keeping him upon the horse. Maguire urged the old man to fly, but he refused to leave his son. Maguire then rode to his side, and the two held the dead body of Francis. While in this position, three Indians rushed from their ambuscades with terrific yells, and fired a volley, one bullet striking Felix Donnelly, and the other grazing' Maguire's ear, carrying away a portion of his hair. The bodies of both the Donnellys fell to the ground, and Maguire rode forward, passing (probably without noticing her) his daughter. The Indians, after scalping the murdered men, followed Jane, evidently with the intention of making a prisoner of her. The fleetest of them overtook her, and grasped her by the dress, and with uplifted tomahawk demanded her to surrender; but she struggled heroically. The strings of her short gown gave way, and by an extraordinary effort she freed herself, leaving the garment in the hands of the savage; then, seizing the cow's tail, she gave it a twist, which started the animal running, and gave her an impetus which soon enabled her to pass her father. The savage still followed, but in the meantime Maguire had recovered from the consternation caused by the massacre, and immediately aimed his rifle at the Indian, when the latter took shelter behind a tree. At this juncture, a number of men who were pitching quoits at Cryder's Mill, on the opposite side of the river, who had heard the firing and the whoops of the savages, put off in a canoe to engage the Indians; but they were soon discovered, and the Indian, shaking Jane Maguire's short gown derisively at them, disappeared. The men, doubtful as to the number of the enemy, returned to the mill, to await the arrival of a greater force.

Maguire and his daughter reached the fort in a state better imagined than described. The garrison was soon alarmed, and a number of armed men started in pursuit of the savages. At the mill they were joined by the men previously mentioned; and, although every exertion was made in their power, they could not get upon their trail, and the pursuit was abandoned.

The dead bodies of the Donnellys were taken to Standing Stone, and buried upon what was then vacant ground; but the spot where they now rest is pointed out in a garden in the heart of the borough of Huntingdon.

Jane Maguire, who certainly exhibited a very fair share of the heroism of the day in her escape from the savage, afterward married a man named Cowling, and moved to Raystown Branch, where she reared a family of children, some of whom are still living.

Opposite the mouth of the Raystown Branch lived Colonel Fee, an active and energetic man during the Revolution. He was in Captain Blair's expedition against the tories, and for a while served as a private in the army. His widow (a sister of the late Thomas Jackson, of Gaysport) is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, and to her we are indebted for much valuable information in the construction of these pages.

The Cryders, too, are worthy of a special notice. They consisted of a father, mother, and seven sons. They built a mill at the Big Spring, which served for the people of Standing Stone and the surrounding country. They were all men suitable for the times-rugged and daring. A majority of them were constantly in service during the war of the Revolution, either as frontier-men, scouts, or fort guards. Michael Cryder, the father, used to spend his days at his mill and his nights at the fort during the troublesome times, and it was himself and five of his sons who accomplished the then extraordinary achievement of running the first ark-load of flour down the Juniata River.

The Standing Stone is frequently mentioned in the Archives, but its name is mostly coupled with rumors, grossly exaggerated, of attacks by tories, &c. There is no doubt whatever but that great distress, principally arising from a want of provisions, prevailed there during the war.

When the alarms were most frequent, and Council had been importuned time and again to send provisions to Standing Stone, as well as men for its defence, and munitions, a circular was issued to the county lieutenants, dated July 16, 1778, from which we extract the following: It is proper to acquaint you that Colonel Broadhead's regiment, now on a march to Pittsburg, is ordered by the Board of War to the Standing Stone; and we have ordered three hundred militia from Cumberland, and two hundred from York, to join them.

This promise to the ear of the affrighted settlers was broken to the hope. Only seventy of the Cumberland militia were taken to the Standing Stone, and thirty of them soon after removed to garrison the Lead Mine Fort. Huntingdon was laid out previous to the commencement of hostilities-probably in 1775,-but it retained the name of Stone Town for many years. With the exception of Frankstown, it is the oldest town on the Juniata. On the formation of the county, in 1787, it took the same name. The county, during the late war with Great Britain, furnished three full companies; and, although it once was the stronghold of tories, we can now safely say that it stands among the most patriotic in the State.

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